Independence

Independence is already a hard thing for me to let her have at times and I know it is only going to get worse as she gets older and wants more and more.

Right now it is feeding herself. She wants to be independent while feeding herself with a spoon which takes a lot longer and is messier than if I would just feed her. I know she needs to work on this skill though so I am trying to be better about letting her do this. I would love for her to be more independent while feeding herself with a bottle though. Sometimes when she is really hungry she will hold it herself, but most of the time she will just wait for me to hold it up for her. This morning she did hold it for her whole feeding though.

I am also trying to remind myself to let her crawl a lot more. She gets plenty of time to crawl around and explore on her own, but I almost always pick her up and carry her if I need to go to another room. I need to remember to slow my life down and wait for her to do somethings on her own so she can learn to be independent.

Independence is also a sign that she is growing up. Growing up way too quickly. She is going to be a year old before we know it. I think back 8 months to when all she wanted to do was sleep in my arms and wonder where the time has gone. I'm sure she will be 18 and moving out in what will seem like next week.

8 months

Dancing with Daddy

Lily's new favorite thing to do right now is push buttons, like the power button on my computer while I am typing blog posts! It usually takes her a little while to get her thumb lined up with the button so I have a little time to distract her into doing something else, but sometimes she is quick.

She is doing great with sleeping for Sean and me, but on the days that she goes to my mom's house she rarely takes naps. I think there is just too much going on for her to want to calm down. There are different toys there and 2 dogs that absolutely love her.

Lily wants to walk so badly. She pulls herself up onto everything and will walk along the couch or the wall. Sometimes she will even do this step/fall thing from the couch to the ottoman. My back is getting sore because she really likes to walk in front of me while holding onto my hands.

She is also starting to eat so many more things. She absolutely loves baby food whether it is homemade or from a jar. She also likes getting some more solids such as some cereal pieces and yogurt bites. She even tries to eat my peach whenever she sees that I have one.

Feeding herself mashed potatoes


They ended up everywhere


"What is this 8 doing on my belly?"

"It must be there for me to eat!"

Swimming in the back yard

7 months

Lily is doing so much now. She is almost never content just being in one place. Now that she knows she can move places that is all she wants to do. And if she comes to something that she can't get by with crawling then her next idea is to pull herself up and see if she can climb over. A new favorite game of her's is for me to lay on my side on the ground and put a favorite toy of her's on the other side of me than her. She will try to climb over me to get it. It also involves lots of tickles, kisses, and the toy moving several times before she actually gets to it.

She was super fussy this weekend and a little bit this week. We think she might be teething because when I gave her some baby Tylenol she seemed to calm down for a little bit (like 30 minutes). She is also fighting sleep during the day because she doesn't want to miss anything, but when she does finally she sleeps for like 2-3 hours plus she is sleeping longer in the mornings, even if she goes to bed a little earlier. She definitely wears herself out with all the exploring she does.

Her 7 month photos are a little different than the others because I couldn't get her to stay still for them.



First time experiencing grass


Crawling, but not so sure about leaving the blanket


"Why is there a 7 next to me?"


Pretty eyes

more attempts at crawling

She is becoming so much stronger and is getting closer and closer to crawling on her hands and knees each day!

Big events in a laundry basket!

Today I needed to be on the computer for a bit to get some orders submitted for a 31 Gifts party I did a little while ago. Here are some photos to show the events that followed.

Lily in a laundry basket so Mommy can get some work done on the computer

She seems to be enjoying her toys and not too concerned about being confined

And then she pulled herself up! She only had a little bit of bracing on the one side with one foot, otherwise she was standing on her own!

She is such a big girl now.

Shortly after the last picture was taken she started crying. I got her to bend her knees and let go with her hands so she could sit back down and she was all smiles again. I think she couldn't figure out how to get out of this new standing position.

Lily update

Lily is so close to crawling on her hands and knees. Right now she has perfected the army crawl and will get up on her hands and knees and rock. She will also look back at her knees like "I know you are supposed to be doing something, why aren't you?" before she falls back to her belly. Army crawling is definitely a good mode of travel for her though and she can get across the family room a lot quicker than I would like.

We have cut back a little bit on solid foods because it has been giving her tummy problems. She still gets super excited when she sees her spoon and bowl though. Right now she is just back to eating oatmeal and formula and we will hopefully be reintroducing some fruits and veggies again this week.

Today some friends of ours from college are getting married so my parents are going to watch Lily all day and then also tonight! This will be the first night for me away from the baby. I'm sure it will be rough emotionally, but I'm also excited to have a morning to sleep in and also some time tomorrow to get some stuff done around the house that is harder to do with a little one.

Just this morning I found a new toy for Lily. The laundry basket. I was folding her clothes and she tipped the basket over and crawled in. Now as I type this I have moved the basket into the computer room and she is playing in it with some toys. I am enjoying the fact that she loves it and will keep her confined so I can finally get a blog post up. And I must have jinxed it because she is now starting to fuss.

nh mh,hkfvbhjn jklkbhbhgh nm,jm,hnm dnhndrn m. bbb
That would be Lily's addition to the post :)

6 month pictures and well visit

Looking up at Daddy on Father's day/6 Month Birthday

Playing with the curtains

"I want the camera"

Watching the doggies play outside

6 Months!


Lily and I went to an arts festival with our friend Michelle a couple weekends ago and got a beautiful purple headband and a purple flower barrette. The next day when I went to take her 6 month pictures I realized that the 6 was purple as well so she just had to wear the headband for her photo shoot.

She had her 6 month checkup today. While she is a little small the doctor isn't worried and he is impressed with how long she can sit up unsupported and that she army crawls. She is the the 50th percentile for height and only the 10th for weight. In the hand out he gave us at the end of the appointment it said that she can be eating solids up to 3 meals a day so I am going to start giving her more this weekend. Right now she really likes peaches and bananas, but I bought some squash and avocado at the store today so we will see what she thinks of them this weekend.

This weekend we are also going to really baby proof the house. It has been super nerve racking now that she is moving. There is so much to do though that I really don't know where to start. I guess first will be just making sure we pick up after ourselves. I am going to go and buy outlets covers, bumpers for the coffee table, and latches for the cabinets tomorrow or Saturday.